tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713Mon, 02 Mar 2015 18:20:14 +0000Gary WillIssues relating to Southwestern Ontario ... and whatever else escapes from my fingers.http://blog.garywill.com/noreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)Blogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-4912956302494215960Mon, 02 Mar 2015 18:01:00 +00002015-03-02T13:20:14.302-05:00A lesson Adam Chowaniec helped me to learn<i>This was going to be a set of tweets, but ended up being a little long.</i><br /><br />I'd been reading observations and recommendations from Adam Chowaniec for over ten years when <a href="http://www.obj.ca/Technology/2015-02-19/article-4049539/Friends,-colleagues-pay-tribute-to-tech-pioneer-Adam-Chowaniec/1" target="_blank">he died a couple of weeks ago</a>. He was one of the leading figures in the Ottawa tech community and had spoken at at least a couple of Communitech events over the years.<br /><br />He was always worth hearing, and at the same time, would occasionally say things that made me think we lived in alternate universes.<br /><br />It was an important lesson to learn. Tech communities—even in the same province—have different experiences and priorities. Chowaniec was very Ottawa, very telecom. Ottawa and Waterloo collaborate a lot, and aren't that far apart in distance, but are also very different. <br /><br />You have to be cautious when drawing conclusions for the province or the country based on your one region. You can't avoid it—most of us live in one place, and that shapes our experiences—but you can watch out for your own overgeneralizations.<br /><br />(At the same time, the reverse problem may be even more dangerous: refusing to learn from other communities because they're not you. I've seen way too much of this over the last few years. But that sounds like a 2,000-word post that I'll thankfully never get around to writing.)<br /><br />http://blog.garywill.com/2015/03/a-lesson-adam-chowaniec-helped-me-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-3366166988355411766Mon, 10 Nov 2014 18:34:00 +00002014-11-12T20:38:05.809-05:00Zero to One: Some useful insights in a sea of drossMany people have said good things about the Peter Thiel (with Blake Masters) book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future-ebook/dp/B00J6YBOFQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1415644227&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Zero+to+One%3A+Notes+on+Startups%2C+or+How+to+Build+the+Future" target="_blank">Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future</a></i>, and there were several parts I found worthwhile, but I can't add it to the recommended reading list for startup founders. <br /><br />There's nothing particularly objectionable about the major theme—have a bold vision and a plan to get there—but there's very little in Thiel's underpinning for that theme that's going to be of much value. It's heavy on personal ideology—which may be enjoyable to read if you share the same views—but not so useful as a guide for startups.<br /><br />I'm sure I could pull a dozen good tweets from the book (and will do, below ... 10 of them, anyway), but I found the first half to be largely a waste of time. Thiel's recollections of the late 90s dot-com boom are very different from mine. He looks back with nostalgia at a golden era characterized by big visions that he rarely sees these days. I remember the period as being as much awash with triviality as any other era. It wasn't the visions that were big as much as the budgets, as pie-eyed investors provided millions of dollars to anyone who incorporated "online portal" into their elevator pitch.<br /><br />I can't image that the "four big lessons" he claims Silicon Valley learned from the crash were actually anyone's main takeaways. If anything, "focus on product, not sales"—one of the lessons he claims—was a guiding principle of the dot-com boom. Who needed sales when you had investors lining up to give you cash? It was all about the product -- building the website and growing traffic. Revenue was something that would come in the future.<br /><br />Thiel's characterization of the lean startup approach as having no plans—another of the claimed lessons—is every bit as inaccurate when he says it as when some lean proponents imply the same thing. I can't call it a strawman argument when there are self-identified lean supporters who make planning sound like some quaint artifact of an earlier time, but the lean approach really isn't anti-planning as much as an acknowledgement that—in the earliest stages—whatever your plans are, they're going to change as you start getting feedback from the market. It's about contingent planning rather than a rejection of planning—against carving plans in stone early on, when startups have little more than a vision and guesses. But Thiel doesn't appear to be a fan of contingent plans—it seems they're part of the feeble "indefinite" worldview that he criticizes in one of the chapters I didn't find very useful.<br /><br />That was my view of his discussion of monopolies. If we define "monopoly" so loosely that it includes every successful business—as Thiel does—then it would also include every unsuccessful business too. If you're interested in learning about Thiel's ideology, then it might be worth a read. For building startups, though, I found little that was worthwhile, although Chapter 5—which continues the discussion of monopolies—would certainly be the source of some of those dozen good tweets.<br /><br />Most of them, though, would be pulled from chapters 7 to 11—where it finally felt that the book was worth reading ... before it tailed off in the final four sections (last three chapters and the conclusion). There are a dozen other books I would suggest startup founders read ahead of this, but chapters 7 to 11 may very well be worth a read. (A minor point, but when Thiel says that "very few people take unorthodox ideas seriously today" I'm not sure he gets out of the house much—or goes on YouTube. Fluoridation, Wi-Fi, wind turbines, Illuminati, 9/11 truthers, Obama birthers, and dozens more come to mind. It may not be a majority of people, but it's definitely at cult levels, which Thiel says doesn't happen anymore.)<br /><br />So here are 10 tweets I would take from the book. Not necessarily original ideas, but good ones to consider (I wouldn't take the last one as literally as he apparently does, but then again I haven't worn a suit in public since the 90s.):<br /><ul><li>Every startup should start with a very small market. Always err on the side of starting too small</li><li>Being the first mover doesn’t do you any good if someone else comes along and unseats you</li><li>Focus relentlessly on something you’re good at doing, but before that you must think hard about whether it will be valuable in the future</li><li>When you start something, the first and most crucial decision you make is whom to start it with</li><li>By far the worst you can do is to make your board extra large</li><li>As a general rule, everyone you involve with your company should be involved full-time. Sometimes you’ll have to break this rule</li><li>In no case should a CEO of an early-stage, venture-backed startup receive more than $150,000 per year in salary</li><li>The best thing I did as a manager at PayPal was to make every person in the company responsible for doing just one thing</li><li>The engineer’s grail is a product great enough that “it sells itself.” But anyone who would actually say this about a real product must be lying</li><li>Never invest in a tech CEO that wears a suit</li></ul>http://blog.garywill.com/2014/11/zero-to-one-some-useful-insights-in-sea.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-189655612745963624Fri, 07 Mar 2014 05:44:00 +00002014-03-07T11:43:29.919-05:00London, Ontario and its 20 to 44-year-old population ... is it really so bad?For its London X event this past weekend, <a href="http://www.emergingleaders.ca/" target="_blank">Emerging Leaders</a> republished some <a href="http://www.emergingleaders.ca/everythingeconomicp1/" target="_blank">analysis from about a year ago</a> of the 2011 Census that suggested London was doing a poor job of attracting and retaining people in the 20 to 44 age range when compared to other municipalities. At the time it was originally published, I looked it over and had some questions about whether London's numbers were really that bad, but didn't look into it more closely ... until now.<br /><br />I'm going to use figures for the City of London rather than the London census metropolitan area (CMA), which includes eight municipalities, some of which are very different from London. London accounts for 77% of the population of the CMA, so there often isn't a big difference between the two, but the London CMA includes the farming-heavy communities of Adelaide Metcalfe and Southwold and the heavily working-class municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc, as well as St. Thomas. Looking at the CMA is worthwhile (and I have those numbers too), but if we're looking to draw conclusions about London, I'd rather focus on the data for London itself.<br /><br />Looking at the 2011 Census numbers, for percentage of residents in the 20-44 age range, London ranks in the top five percent among all municipalities in Ontario. If we narrow that down to a somewhat arbitrarily chosen list of 58 larger municipalities and regions in the province, with a concentration on Southwestern Ontario, it looks like this:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18922015/20-44Percent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18922015/20-44Percent.jpg" /></a></div><br />(Some of these overlap—for example, Strathroy-Caradoc and Middlesex Centre are both part of Middlesex County. The "Essex" shown here is Essex County, not the Town of Essex.)<br /><br />This is one of London's strengths. It's not in the elite 36%+ group with Toronto (37.6%), Kitchener (37.1%), Brampton (36.9%), Waterloo (36.4%) and Guelph (36.2%). But, at 34.6%, it's just slightly below Ottawa, Barrie and Kingston and ahead of a lot of Ontario's bigger cities, including Mississauga, Cambridge, Windsor, Oshawa, Hamilton, Brantford, Peterborough (which I didn't put on the chart), Burlington, and St. Catharines. <br /><br />London clearly has a solid population base in the 20-44 age range, but what about growth rates? That was the focus of the Emerging Leaders analysis, and there's no question that the numbers aren't as favourable here. Still, London is far from being the worst performer and could probably be called middle-of-the-pack.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18922015/20-44Growth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18922015/20-44Growth.jpg" /></a></div><br />This is the change in the population aged 20-44 at the time of the 2011 Census from that at the time of the 2006 Census. London falls below the provincial average—which was pulled up by some good numbers in a few municipalities (the GTA and Waterloo Region had some strong performers). But ranking below London, you'll find Mississauga, Cambridge, Brantford, Hamilton, Barrie, Sudbury and even Waterloo, along with St. Catharines and Windsor.<br /><br />Not a great result, but not notably bad either.<br /><br />But there's another way to look at growth rates that I think is worthwhile. The Census is held every five years, and the number of residents is broken down into five-year age ranges. People in one age group in the 2006 Census would move into the next higher age group in the 2011 Census and the difference would come from deaths (more significant for older age ranges) and the net gains/losses from people in that age range moving in and out of the municipality. You can track those changes as that cohort moves along.<br /><br />People aged 20-44 in 2011 would have been 15-39 in 2006. When you compare those two groups, you find that London actually had a gain of 2,285 people in that cohort between 2006 and 2011. That is, there were 2,285 more people aged 20-44 in London in 2011 than there were people aged 15 to 39 in 2006.<br /><br />So London is attracting people in that age range, although most of the gains are in the 20-24 group. That's probably what you'd expect in a city with a university and a college. The top performers in 20-24 growth rates—Kingston, Toronto, Waterloo, Guelph, Ottawa, London—are all cities with universities. (And those same cities—with the exception of Ottawa—all place near the bottom in the growth rates for the cohort that was in their 30s in 2011. It looks like lots of people come for university and then lots of people leave over the next few years.)<br /><br />A gain of 2,285 people sounds good, although it's still a middle-of-the-pack growth rate. In fact, Mississauga and Cambridge both leapfrog over London in this cohort growth ranking.<br /><br />After you break it down further by age range, this is where you do find London near the bottom in some rankings. London's cohort-based growth rates for residents who went from being 25-34 in 2006 to 30-39 in 2011 were among the lowest of these selected municipalities. That would be consistent with the hypothesis that younger workers are hitting a wall in their career development and looking elsewhere, although there could be other factors involved. Waterloo's growth rates were even lower, as were Toronto's (for the group entering their late 30s, anyway), which surprised me, since I would think Toronto picks up a lot of people through immigration. <br /><br />It's the suburbs that have the high growth rates for this cohort—Woolwich and Wilmot in Waterloo Region and Middlesex Centre in the London area are all at the top of the list. Middlesex County (which includes Middlesex Centre) has a strong growth rate for this cohort. That could be a useful topic for further research from Emerging Leaders.<br /><br />Still, going back to the non-cohort view, even if you ignore residents in their early 20s—where London performs best—and just look at the 25-44 range, London still scores above the provincial average for its concentration of residents and just below the average for growth rate (see bar charts below). <br /><br />There's certainly room for improvement. Other than Hamilton and Windsor, most of the municipalities that I think London would like to compare itself to place higher on one or both of these charts (just barely, in Waterloo's case), so it's worthwhile to look at ways to help make the numbers even stronger in 2016, 2021 and beyond. At the same time, there are plenty of municipalities in the province that would love to have London's numbers. They aren't great, but you could do a lot worse.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18922015/25-44Percent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18922015/25-44Percent.jpg" /></a><a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18922015/25-44Growth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18922015/25-44Growth.jpg" /></a></div><i>These charts and statistics are generated from spreadsheets that got increasingly complex as I went along, so there's always a possibility that I goofed up a formula along the way. I did some quick checks, but that's all I have time for. All the raw data for the <a href="http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/search-recherche/lst/page.cfm?Lang=E&amp;GeoCode=35" target="_blank">2006</a> and <a href="http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/search-recherche/lst/page.cfm?Lang=E&amp;GeoCode=35&amp;TABID=1&amp;G=1&amp;Geo1=PR&amp;Code1=10&amp;Geo2=0&amp;Code2=0" target="_blank">2011</a> Censuses are available from the Statistics Canada website.</i>http://blog.garywill.com/2014/03/london-and-its-20-to-44-year-old.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-3845520273368190887Fri, 28 Feb 2014 03:35:00 +00002014-03-03T15:07:13.514-05:00IRAP Q3 contributions for 70 organizations across 12 regions in SWOntarioThe quarter ended December 31 (Q3 FY2014) was huge for IRAP contributions across Southwestern Ontario—way too many to go through individually. The long list of recipients includes Snapsort, Miovision, Renix, Akira Systems, Ortech, Digital Extremes, TecVana, LifeLike Biotissue, Pulse Infoframe, Magnet Forensics, Thalmic, Sand Plains Aquaculture, Fehr Machine, and System-On-Chip Technologies. Communitech, Innovation Guelph and the Canadian Innovation Centre also received contributions. <br /><br />A few of these actually happened in Q2 and were disclosed late, but even so, it was one of the most active periods you'll see—particularly in London, where 21 companies received contributions. As I've mentioned several times, IRAP has long been a leading supporter of the London tech community. But it wasn't just London—there were contributions in 12 different regions of Southwestern Ontario. There are innovative companies across the region in a wide range of sectors. The largest contribution was $291,076 for PEER Group in Kitchener, although it did not crack the top 50 across Canada. <br /><br />Locations shown here are as listed in the IRAP disclosure. <br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><b>LONDON:</b></td></tr><tr><td>Salt Canada</td><td>London</td><td>$209,991</td></tr><tr><td>OCI Vacuum Microengineering</td><td>London</td><td>$88,240</td></tr><tr><td>Black Fly Beverage</td><td>London</td><td>$87,180</td></tr><tr><td>DeeTag</td><td>London</td><td>$63,210</td></tr><tr><td>Barnes Electric</td><td>London</td><td>$53,871</td></tr><tr><td>ProAble Hardware Specialties</td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Phoenix Interactive Design</td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Trac Rail</td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Hudson Boat Works</td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Renix</td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Akira Systems</td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>DQE Instruments</td><td>London</td><td>$49,477</td></tr><tr><td>Ortech Data Centre</td><td>London</td><td>$46,500</td></tr><tr><td>Compudata Systems</td><td>London</td><td>$41,600</td></tr><tr><td>Digital Extremes</td><td>London</td><td>$39,999</td></tr><tr><td>HNH Machine</td><td>London</td><td>$37,080</td></tr><tr><td>Inspiratica</td><td>London</td><td>$30,000</td></tr><tr><td>Diagnostics Biochem Canada</td><td>London</td><td>$30,000</td></tr><tr><td>TecVana</td><td>London</td><td>$30,000</td></tr><tr><td>LifeLike Biotissue</td><td>London</td><td>$30,000</td></tr><tr><td>Pulse Infoframe</td><td>London</td><td>$25,500</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>WATERLOO REGION:</b></td></tr><tr><td>PEER Group</td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$291,076</td></tr><tr><td>Snapsort</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$218,031</td></tr><tr><td>Miovision Technologies</td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$150,000</td></tr><tr><td>Accelerated Systems</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$119,000</td></tr><tr><td>Syrier Poultry</td><td>Elmira</td><td>$96,376</td></tr><tr><td>Magnet Forensics</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$95,000</td></tr><tr><td>Thalmic Labs</td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>System-On-Chip Technologies</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Deep Trekker</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>TeTechS</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Canadian Innovation Centre</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$46,000</td></tr><tr><td>Communitech</td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$35,122</td></tr><tr><td>Cambridge Metal Products</td><td>Ayr</td><td>$32,000</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>WINDSOR-ESSEX:</b></td></tr><tr><td>Dynament</td><td>Amherstburg &nbsp;</td><td>$132,000</td></tr><tr><td>Standard Tool &amp; Mold</td><td>Windsor</td><td>$77,300</td></tr><tr><td>Lakeside Produce</td><td>Leamington</td><td>$49,500</td></tr><tr><td>Policella Farms</td><td>Kingsville</td><td>$49,366</td></tr><tr><td>Sharbel Group</td><td>Windsor</td><td>$48,816</td></tr><tr><td>Biobest Canada</td><td>Leamington</td><td>$48,695</td></tr><tr><td>Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery</td><td>Amherstburg</td><td>$43,120</td></tr><tr><td>Strong Dental</td><td>Leamington</td><td>$41,781</td></tr><tr><td>Windsor Mold</td><td>Windsor</td><td>$40,300</td></tr><tr><td>1797472 Ontario</td><td>Leamington</td><td>$36,001</td></tr><tr><td>Brave Control Solutions</td><td>Windsor</td><td>$30,000</td></tr><tr><td>iDream Interactive</td><td>Windsor</td><td>$27,400</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>BRANTFORD-BRANT:</b></td></tr><tr><td>Hartmann Canada</td><td>Brantford</td><td>$99,999</td></tr><tr><td>Germiphene</td><td>Brantford</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Gorilla Brake &amp; Components</td><td>Brantford</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Systems Logic</td><td>Brantford</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Rescraft Plastic Products</td><td>Paris</td><td>$42,000</td></tr><tr><td>Gorilla Brake &amp; Components</td><td>Brantford</td><td>$36,000</td></tr><tr><td>Apogee Engineered Ceramics</td><td>Brantford</td><td>$29,000</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>GUELPH:</b></td></tr><tr><td>RWDI Air</td><td>Guelph</td><td>$150,000</td></tr><tr><td>Innovation Guelph</td><td>Guelph</td><td>$95,000</td></tr><tr><td>Ontario Agri-Food Technologies</td><td>Guelph</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Mantech</td><td>Guelph</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>LAMBTON:</b></td></tr><tr><td>Creative Education Of Canada</td><td>Sarnia</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Roger H. Woods</td><td>Watford</td><td>$49,800</td></tr><tr><td>Feher Machine</td><td>Sarnia</td><td>$46,124</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>ST. THOMAS-ELGIN:</b></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td>GCW Custom Kitchens</td><td>St. Thomas</td><td>$99,999</td></tr><tr><td>IGPC Ethanol</td><td>Aylmer</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Amino North America</td><td>St. Thomas</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>NORFOLK:</b></td></tr><tr><td>Norfolk Fruit Growers' Association &nbsp;</td><td>Simcoe</td><td>$75,585</td></tr><tr><td>Titan Trailers</td><td>Delhi</td><td>$35,065</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>OXFORD:</b></td></tr><tr><td>Federal White Cement</td><td>Embro</td><td>$60,000</td></tr><tr><td>Sand Plains AquaCulture</td><td>Tillsonburg</td><td>$47,353</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>CHATHAM-KENT:</b></td></tr><tr><td>AgraCity Crop & Nutrition</td><td>Wallaceburg</td><td>$44,000</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>HURON:</b></td></tr><tr><td>Dashwood Industries</td><td>Centralia</td><td>$75,704</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr><td><b>PERTH:</b></td></tr><tr><td>BTE Assembly</td><td>Listowel</td><td>$50,000</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />http://blog.garywill.com/2014/02/irap-q3-contributions-for-70-orgs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-8527443433385730140Tue, 11 Feb 2014 22:32:00 +00002014-02-11T17:56:36.463-05:00At first glance: Highlights of Budget 2014Haven't read a lot of it yet, but these were some items that stood out from a innovation perspective ... and from a quasi-rural, living in Southwestern Ontario near the border perspective (a summary of my Tweets at the time):<br /><ul><li>Additional $40 million over four years to the Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program to help entrepreneurs create new companies</li><li>$305 million over five years to enhance access to high-speed broadband networks to a target speed of 5 Mb/s</li><li>Up to $30 million to IRAP to support youth internships in SMEs</li><li>Reallocation of $15 million annually within the Youth Employment Strategy to support up to 1,000 full-time internships at SMEs</li><li> $3 million over three years to the Canadian Digital Media Network <a class="link-complex" data-user-name="cdmn" href="https://twitter.com/cdmn/" rel="user" target="_blank"><span class="at"></span><span class="link-complex-target"></span></a>for the creation of the Open Data Institute in Waterloo </li><li>$15 million over three years, starting in 2014–15, to support the Institute for Quantum Computing in Waterloo</li><li>Create the Canada First Research Excellence Fund with $1.5 billion in funding over the next decade</li><li>Additional $15 million per year to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council</li><li>Additional $500 million over two years to the Automotive Innovation Fund</li><li>$8 million over two years to Mitacs to expand its support for industrial research and training of postdoctoral fellows </li><li>$10 million over two years in support of social innovation research projects at colleges and polytechnics</li><li>A new Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Fund "will require immigrants to make a real and significant investment in the Canadian economy"</li><li>"A plan to introduce legislation to prohibit unjustified cross-border price discrimination"</li></ul>http://blog.garywill.com/2014/02/at-first-glance-highlights-of-budget.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-2931472584587785117Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:40:00 +00002013-12-16T14:40:16.282-05:00Leamington`s challenge: bouncing back despite low educational attainmentThere have been a lot of plant closures announced lately, including several in the food processing sector, which municipalities across Southwestern Ontario promote as one of their strengths.<br /><br />Leamington was particularly hard hit by news that Heinz is shutting down its plant there, where it is both the largest employer and taxpayer. Although there are many places in Ontario that have more people working in the food processing/manufacturing sector, Leamington has—by far— the highest concentration of those workers (NHS 2011) and Heinz was the foundation of the local industry.<br /><br />Leamington is also notable for having Ontario's lowest percentage of residents with any university or college degree, diploma or certificate, at least among the more populated parts of the province. And, again, it's by a noticeably wide margin:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.garywill.com/images/uni-coll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.garywill.com/images/uni-coll.jpg" /></a></div><br />(On the chart, "SSPerth" is the combined Stratford-St. Marys-Perth County area, "Big26" is the 26 most populated municipalities in Ontario, "SWO" is Southwestern Ontario, from Wellington County west, not including the Hamilton-Niagara region, "SCOR" is the South Central Ontario Region, comprised of Norfolk, Brant, Oxford, Middlesex and Elgin, "NotTorontoCMA" is all of Ontario outside of the Toronto CMA, "MiddlesexNR" and "LambtonNR" include the Native reserves in the areas. I think the rest are all clear.)<br /><br />As the chart shows, while the City of Waterloo scores very well for post-secondary educational achievement, and Guelph and London/Middlesex Centre do okay, as do LaSalle and Tecumseh in the Windsor metro area, the other parts of Southwestern Ontario fall below the provincial average, and in many cases well below. My municipality—Strathroy-Caradoc—just misses the bottom ten (or the top 10, as shown in reverse order above).<br /><br />But even among Southwestern Ontario municipalities, Leamington is at the bottom of the list, which will present some special challenges as the community rebounds from the Heinz closure.<br /><br />http://blog.garywill.com/2013/12/leamingtons-challenge-bouncing-back.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-3395791493196482718Fri, 29 Nov 2013 19:14:00 +00002013-11-29T14:14:35.642-05:00Rebellion Media tops IRAP Q2 contributions in SWOntarioWaterloo's Rebellion Media was awarded the largest IRAP contribution in the country—$500,000 —in the quarter ended September 30 (Q2 1014), according to NRC's disclosures. Other companies in Southwestern Ontario that received IRAP funding included London's Big Blue Bubble and Kitchener's Miovision. Contributions were awarded to organizations in Waterloo Region, London, Middlesex, Windsor, Essex, Guelph, Chatham-Kent, Grey, Bruce, Norfolk, and Brant.<br /><br />Among organizations in Ontario supporting innovation, MaRS, Invest Ottawa, VentureLab, Communitech and OCE all were awarded contributions of $250,000 or more.<br /><br />Q2 IRAP contributions to Southwestern Ontario-based organizations:<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.rebellionmedia.com/" target="_blank">Rebellion Media</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$500,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.whitfieldwelding.com/" target="_blank">Whitfield Welding</a></td><td>Oldcastle</td><td>$312,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.communitech.ca/" target="_blank">Communitech</a></td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$275,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.concoursmold.com/" target="_blank">Concours Mold</a></td><td>Lakeshore</td><td>$150,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.eclipseautomation.com/" target="_blank">Eclipse Automation</a></td><td>Cambridge</td><td>$99,999</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.sportsystemscorp.com/" target="_blank">Sport Systems Unlimited</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$99,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.hnhmachine.com/" target="_blank">HNH Machine</a></td><td>London</td><td>$98,393</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.hematite.ca/" target="_blank">Pavaco Plastics</a></td><td>Guelph</td><td>$80,857</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.cntrline.com/" target="_blank">Centerline</a></td><td>Windsor</td><td>$80,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.wetech-alliance.com/" target="_blank">WEtech Alliance</a></td><td>Windsor</td><td>$70,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://bigbluebubble.com/" target="_blank">Big Blue Bubble</a></td><td>London</td><td>$54,620</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.class1inc.com/" target="_blank">Class1</a></td><td>Cambridge</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.enviroshake.com/" target="_blank">Enviroshake</a></td><td>Chatham</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://miovision.com/" target="_blank">Miovision Technologies</a></td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.ontaero.org/" target="_blank">Ontario Aerospace Council (OAC)</a></td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.emccanada.org/" target="_blank">Excellence In Manufacturing Consortium</a> &nbsp;</td><td>Owen Sound &nbsp;</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.bluewaterwoodalliance.org/" target="_blank">Bluewater Wood Alliance</a></td><td>Walkerton</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.sowc.ca/" target="_blank">Southern Ontario Water Consortium</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.caframo.com/" target="_blank">Caframo</a></td><td>Wiarton</td><td>$49,880</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.advancedmachiningservices.com/" target="_blank">Advanced Machining Services</a></td><td>Windsor</td><td>$49,000</td></tr><tr><td>Great Lakes Greenhouses</td><td>Leamington</td><td>$48,990</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.bluewaterwoodalliance.org/" target="_blank">Bluewater Wood Alliance</a></td><td>Walkerton</td><td>$47,927</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://ctma.com/" target="_blank">Canadian Tooling And Machining Assoc</a></td><td>Cambridge</td><td>$44,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.pariskitchens.com/" target="_blank">The Sanderson Harold Company</a></td><td>Paris</td><td>$34,200</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.bluestreakequipment.com/" target="_blank">Bluestreak Equipment</a></td><td>Delhi</td><td>$30,000</td></tr><tr><td>21310439 Ontario </td><td>Leamington</td><td>$29,232</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Some notable contributions to organizations across the province supporting innovation: <br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td>MaRS Discovery District</td><td>Toronto</td><td>$400,000</td></tr><tr><td>Invest Ottawa</td><td>Ottawa</td><td>$350,000</td></tr><tr><td>VentureLab</td><td>Markham</td><td>$344,000</td></tr><tr><td>Communitech</td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$275,000</td></tr><tr><td>Ontario Centres Of Excellence</td><td>Toronto</td><td>$250,000</td></tr><tr><td>Canadian Youth Business Foundation</td><td>Toronto</td><td>$248,000</td></tr><tr><td>Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre</td><td>Thunder Bay</td><td>$150,000</td></tr><tr><td>Niagara College</td><td>Niagara-OTL</td><td>$100,000</td></tr><tr><td>Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre</td><td>Sault Ste. Marie &nbsp;</td><td>$100,000</td></tr><tr><td>NORCAT</td><td>Sudbury</td><td>$100,000</td></tr><tr><td>George Brown College</td><td>Toronto</td><td>$100,000</td></tr><tr><td>HalTech</td><td>Oakville</td><td>$95,000</td></tr><tr><td>Mohawk College Institute</td><td>Hamilton</td><td>$85,000</td></tr><tr><td>RIC Centre</td><td>Mississauga</td><td>$80,000</td></tr><tr><td>Innovation Factory</td><td>Hamilton</td><td>$75,000</td></tr><tr><td>TechConnex</td><td>Markham</td><td>$75,000</td></tr><tr><td>University Of Toronto - Rotman</td><td>Toronto</td><td>$75,000</td></tr><tr><td>Mitacs</td><td>Toronto</td><td>$75,000</td></tr><tr><td>Spark Centre</td><td>Whitby</td><td>$75,000</td></tr><tr><td>WEtech Alliance</td><td>Windsor</td><td>$70,000</td></tr><tr><td>Angel One Network</td><td>Oakville</td><td>$60,000</td></tr><tr><td>Southern Ontario Water Consortium</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Innovation Initiatives Ontario North</td><td>North Bay</td><td>$49,048</td></tr><tr><td>Launch Lab</td><td>Kingston</td><td>$40,000</td></tr><tr><td>Maple Leaf Angels</td><td>Toronto</td><td>$35,000</td></tr><tr><td>Biomass Innovation Centre (NipissingU) &nbsp;</td><td>North Bay</td><td>$30,000</td></tr></tbody></table>http://blog.garywill.com/2013/11/rebellion-media-tops-irap-q2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-9167909463097105631Wed, 18 Sep 2013 17:36:00 +00002013-09-19T09:01:40.060-04:00RIM was the Beatles of Waterloo's tech sector, but not its foundationA few weeks ago, <a href="http://blog.garywill.com/2013/07/waterloo-area-leaps-past-ottawa.html" target="_blank">I mentioned</a> that—according to the recently-released 2011 National Household Survey—the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo census metro area (CMA) had passed the Ottawa CMA for percentage of residents working in software &amp; IT &amp; computer and communications manufacturing. I noted that a lot of that was due to RIM/BlackBerry, and that becomes clear if you back out the communications equipment manufacturing component.<br /><br />According to the NHS, KCW (not exactly the same as Waterloo Region, but close) had 40% of all communications equipment manufacturing workers in Ontario—that is, people working in any role for companies in the communications equipment manufacturing sector. <br /><br />That's really an amazing number. There are very few sectors where the Toronto CMA wasn't in top place for total numbers, which is what you'd expect from a region that comprises 44% of Ontario's population. It was even number one among CMAs and CAs for farm workers. But not only was communications equipment manufacturing an exception, KCW dominated the category, far ahead of Toronto's 29% and Ottawa's 13%.<br /><br />Not only did the number dominate other regions, it also dominated KCW's tech sector. NHS figures showed KCW with nearly 50% more people working in communications equipment manufacturing than in the software/IT sector. Not all of that was due to RIM (these are 2011 numbers, remember), but that was by far the biggest chunk. <br /><br />At the most granular, four-digit <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Industry_Classification_System" target="_blank">NAICS</a> level of analysis, communications equipment manufacturing was the second biggest employer in all KCW in 2011, behind only elementary and secondary schools and ahead of insurance, universities, and grocery stores (the next three on the list).<br /><br />When you look just at software and IT companies, KCW drops to third place behind the Ottawa CMA and the Toronto CMA for percentage of the workforce in those industries. It was also third in total numbers, with the Toronto CMA home to more than three-fifths of all people working for software/IT companies in Ontario. <br /><br />Third isn't as nice as first, but when you consider that this is discounting any contribution from RIM, that's not too bad. KCW runs well ahead of the larger Hamilton CMA and has double the numbers of the similarly-sized London CMA.<br /><br />These numbers provide some perspective on recent discussions around BlackBerry and its place in the Waterloo tech sector.<br /><br />For years, Waterloo's tech rep was built around UW. Then RIM became the standard bearer and Waterloo's rep soared to new heights. RIM's success created a halo effect around the entire region's tech sector and, <a href="http://blog.garywill.com/2012/07/canadian-tech-sector-isnt-vanishing-but.html" target="_blank">as I wrote last year</a>, "thanks to RIM, people were ready to believe that a lot more was going on in Waterloo than was really the case for many years. We put that belief to good use, attracting the resources needed to help the reality catch up to the belief."<br /><br />But it was only Waterloo's rep that was build around RIM, not its tech sector. I spent years working in the Waterloo startup community and hardly had any contact with RIM and very limited contact with ex-RIMers doing startups (there was <a href="http://tulip.io/" target="_blank">Ali Asaria</a>, Dave Kruis, Ian Russell, and undoubtedly some others I no longer think of as RIM guys, but it wasn't many). There's more of them now, but RIM wasn't a feeder system for Waterloo tech companies and was only a major customer or partner for a tiny number of the area's tech companies. Waterloo Region's tech community wasn't built upon RIM and RIM was certainly not the foundation of the startup community.<br /><br />We may now be in the homestretch of BlackBerry's run as a standalone company. That's led to a lot of things being written about Waterloo Region over the last year, ranging from is-Waterloo-the-next-Detroit (no) to pfft, we've-got-hundreds-of-tech-companies. And Waterloo Region does have hundreds of tech companies—and the regional tech sector is one of the biggest in Ontario (and Canada) even with NO contribution from RIM. At the same time, there's only been one RIM and we may never see another one in our lifetime.<br /><br />For years, I said that people in Waterloo asking who their next RIM was going to be was like people in Liverpool asking who their next Beatles were going to be. I think it's okay to acknowledge that RIM was the Beatles of Waterloo's tech scene, while accepting that this doesn't mean that Waterloo's tech sector is on the verge of collapse or that there will be any fewer companies launching and growing in the years ahead.<br /><br />We've already seen evidence of how strong and diverse the Waterloo Region tech community is. According to the <a href="https://nacocanada.com/knowledge/research/" target="_blank">National Angel Capital Organization</a>, <a href="http://www.goldentriangleangelnet.ca/" target="_blank">GTAN</a> was the most active angel group in Canada last year (by dollars invested). When FedDev Ontario ran its <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00324.html" target="_blank">Investing in Business Innovation</a> program in 2011-12, it placed more than $16 million in 20 high-potential companies in the area in just a 15-month period. I believe that only the Toronto area had more companies funded, and most other comparable communities didn't come close (Ottawa did well too, Hamilton had one company receive IBI funding, London had none). None of the funded companies was related to RIM and this level of activity suggests that Waterloo Region's tech sector will continue to be strong, with or without RIM.<br /><br />It's highly unlikely that any of them will ever be what RIM was, and it was good for Waterloo's tech rep to be able to cycle in the draft created by RIM. But the community used that time well and is well-positioned for whatever comes next.http://blog.garywill.com/2013/09/rim-was-beatles-of-waterloos-tech.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-1034478575592670665Mon, 16 Sep 2013 16:19:00 +00002013-09-17T10:11:42.024-04:00Highlights of Ontario innovation payments, FY2013The Public Accounts of Ontario for fiscal year 2013 (ended March 31) were released last week, giving us our only detailed breakdown of the money spent by the government over the last year. Federal disclosures are more timely and thorough than provincial, with federal ministries and agencies required to disclose transfer payments of $25,000 or more every quarter. The cutoff for Ontario's public accounts is $120,000, so any payments by the provincial government below that amount aren't specified.<br /><br />Some of the disclosed transfer payments to organizations supporting innovation (these are all from the Ministry of Research and Innovation—which was part of the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation at the time—unless otherwise noted):<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td>Ontario Centres Of Excellence (OCE)</td><td>$34,063,733</td></tr><tr><td>Ontario Capital Growth Corporation </td><td>$18,000,000</td></tr><tr><td>MaRS Discovery District</td><td>$17,584,660</td></tr><tr><td>Communitech </td><td>$10,441,690</td></tr><tr><td>MaRS Discovery District [MCYS]</td><td>$10,000,000</td></tr><tr><td>MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund </td><td>$8,375,000</td></tr><tr><td>Vineland Research &amp; Innovation Centre [OMAFRA] &nbsp;</td><td>$3,666,460</td></tr><tr><td>htx.ca The Health Technology Exchange</td><td>$3,583,128</td></tr><tr><td>Coral CEA </td><td>$2,010,032</td></tr><tr><td>GreenCentre Canada</td><td>$1,592,563</td></tr><tr><td>Bioenterprise [OMAFRA]</td><td>$1,480,000</td></tr><tr><td>Network Of Angel Organizations Ontario </td><td>$611,914</td></tr><tr><td>Invest Ottawa</td><td>$581,715</td></tr><tr><td>Ontario Agri-Food Technologies [OMAFRA]</td><td>$553,500</td></tr><tr><td>Innovation Factory (Hamilton)</td><td>$473,721</td></tr><tr><td>VentureLab (York Region)</td><td>$469,853</td></tr><tr><td>NORCAT (Sudbury)</td><td>$426,825</td></tr><tr><td>Bloom Centre For Sustainability [OMAFRA]</td><td>$410,000</td></tr><tr><td>Bloom Centre For Sustainability </td><td>$351,065</td></tr><tr><td>Communitech [MTCU]</td><td>$329,838</td></tr><tr><td>Spark Centre (Durham/Northumberland)</td><td>$312,312</td></tr><tr><td>TechAlliance Of Southwestern Ontario (London)</td><td>$285,963</td></tr><tr><td>Innovation Guelph</td><td>$228,959</td></tr><tr><td>Launch Lab (Kingston)</td><td>$212,470</td></tr><tr><td>MaRS Discovery District [Energy]</td><td>$193,680</td></tr><tr><td>WEtech Alliance (Windsor)</td><td>$150,972</td></tr><tr><td>HalTech (Halton Region)</td><td>$141,227</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Some of these dollars are passed through to other organizations, but that level of detail isn't provided. Many of these fundings were through the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) program, which was renewed for another three years this year.<br /><br />Overall, the top recipients as shown in the public accounts for the research and commercialization sector were the Ontario Institute For Cancer Research ($89.8 million), and the University of Toronto ($39.0 million). OCE was third. http://blog.garywill.com/2013/09/highlights-of-ontario-innovation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-3180976251780479996Thu, 05 Sep 2013 16:39:00 +00002013-09-05T12:43:53.963-04:00Big Viking, Fongo, Aeryon, Rebellion among IRAP Q1 contributionsIRAP-backed projects have traditionally been a great way to find companies doing innovative things across a wide range of sectors—and in big urban, small urban, and rural areas. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, Ontario Drive and Gear and Biorem received the largest IRAP contributions among Southwestern Ontario companies. Both have a track record of working with IRAP, as does Aeryon Labs, which received the third-largest contribution across the region.<br /><br />London's Big Viking Games, Waterloo's Fongo, and Waterloo's Rebellion Media Group all received their first disclosed IRAP contributions in the quarter. Veteran Waterloo Region tech companies Campana Systems, Virtek, and Huron Technologies (formerly Biomedical Photometrics) were also among Q1 recipients.<br /><br />Disclosed IRAP contributions in Southwestern Ontario, Q1 FY2014:<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.odg.com/">Ontario Drive And Gear (ODG)</a> &nbsp;</td><td>New Hamburg</td><td>$249,565</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.biorem.biz/">Biorem Technologies</a></td><td>Guelph</td><td>$202,500</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.aeryon.com/">Aeryon Labs</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$149,993</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.hauser.ca/">Hauser Industries</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$99,900</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.xtivity.com/">Xtivity</a></td><td>London</td><td>$96,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.forestcitycastings.com/">Forest City Castings</a></td><td>St. Thomas</td><td>$54,263</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.digitalboundary.net/">Digital Boundary Group</a></td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.bigvikinggames.com/">Big Viking Games</a></td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.fongo.com/">Fongo</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.rebellionmedia.com/">Rebellion Media Group</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.campana.com/">Campana Systems</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://huron-technologies.com/">Huron Technologies</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.pqiglobal.com/">ProQuip International</a></td><td>Brantford</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.cslsilicones.com/">CSL Silicones</a></td><td>Guelph</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.wlvtc.com/">Great Lakes Copper</a></td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.spstalls.net/">SP Stalls &amp; Storage</a></td><td>Mount Brydges &nbsp;</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.autoliv.com/">Autoliv Canada</a></td><td>Tilbury</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Brunato Farms</td><td>Leamington</td><td>$49,950</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.rapidcnc.ca/">Rapid EDM</a></td><td>Tecumseh</td><td>$49,280</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.gerbertechnology.com/en-us/solutions/virteklasersolutions.aspx">Virtek</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$47,868</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.edgeautomation.ca/">Edge Automation</a></td><td>London</td><td>$44,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.crate.ca/">Crate Designs</a></td><td>Chesley</td><td>$34,999</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.lakesideproduce.com/">Cervini Farms</a></td><td>Leamington</td><td>$27,100</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The largest contribution in the province was $700,000 for <a href="http://www.cme-mec.ca/english/">Canadian Manufacturers &amp; Exporters (CME)</a>.http://blog.garywill.com/2013/09/big-viking-fongo-aeryon-rebellion-among.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-5312938389123393603Thu, 05 Sep 2013 15:39:00 +00002013-09-05T11:42:00.648-04:00$12.6M for Windsor airport tops Q1 FedDev contributionsSouthwestern Ontario received the biggest FedDev contribution in the first quarter of the 2014 fiscal year, with $12.6 million awarded to the Windsor airport—<a href="http://www.yqg.ca/" target="_blank">Your Quick Gateway (Windsor) Inc.</a>—through the <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00398.html" target="_blank">Prosperity Initiative</a> program. The funding closed in April.<br /><br />Across the region, most of the FedDev fundings in the quarter were for municipal infrastructure and the annual funding for the regional CFDC offices. There was no direct funding for any other businesses.<br /><br />The other funding of note was $367,500 to Guelph-based <a href="http://www.bioenterprise.ca/" target="_blank">Bioenterprise</a> through the <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00337.html" target="_blank">Scientists and Engineers in Business</a> program, which has now committed all of its funds. That program helps STEM grads build business skills and launch startups.http://blog.garywill.com/2013/09/126m-for-windsor-airport-tops-q1-feddev.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-5843317920437339642Thu, 08 Aug 2013 18:36:00 +00002013-08-08T14:37:13.938-04:00For university degrees in Ontario, Waterloo has two peers ...When I looked at the National Household Survey numbers a few weeks ago and saw that 47% of the population of the City of Waterloo in the 25-64 age range had a university degree, I tweeted that this was a number that would be hard to beat. You aren't going to find many cities with a population just under 100,000 (using census numbers) and two universities, so it seemed like a number that other communities wouldn't be able to match.<br /><br />It turns out that there are two other towns in Ontario that are right up there with Waterloo. Richmond Hill actually comes out slightly on top using the NHS figures (47.3% vs Waterloo's 46.8%), although I suspect that's within the sampling error. Oakville is also in the top group with 46.1% of its population with university degrees. There's then a noticable drop to Ottawa in fourth place (42.8%).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G9dLjhc2-Lo/UgPjVqEQ5DI/AAAAAAAAG1Y/_0dp_LQO9IE/s1600/unidegree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G9dLjhc2-Lo/UgPjVqEQ5DI/AAAAAAAAG1Y/_0dp_LQO9IE/s1600/unidegree.jpg" /></a></div>So, Waterloo is at the high end of the scale—and in an elite group—but a group with a couple of other members.<br /><br />The Waterloo ranking is for the City of Waterloo. The numbers for Waterloo Region aren't as high, with Kitchener ranking 44th and Cambridge 116th in Ontario. London ranks 29th.http://blog.garywill.com/2013/08/for-universiy-degrees-in-ontario.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-4313606622250338735Mon, 15 Jul 2013 17:17:00 +00002013-07-28T10:54:16.490-04:00Waterloo area leaps past OttawaAccording to the recently released National Household Survey 2011, the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo census metropolitan area (CMA) has leaped past the Ottawa CMA to have Ontario's highest concentration of people working in the software, IT and computer/communications manufacturing sectors (combining NAICS categories 5112, 5415, 3341, 3342).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lwCyoDFZa8Y/Ueg3LkwJo2I/AAAAAAAAGqQ/qGDtNHocark/s1600/computer-naics2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lwCyoDFZa8Y/Ueg3LkwJo2I/AAAAAAAAGqQ/qGDtNHocark/s1600/computer-naics2.jpg" /></a></div>I haven't checked historical census data, but I'd have to think that's the first time that's happened. A lot of that was due to RIM/BlackBerry, and the numbers there aren't as rosy today as they were when the survey was conducted, but the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo numbers were up by almost 70% since 2006, while Ottawa's were down by about 20%.<br /><br />Guelph and Centre Wellington also showed significant growth in the combined sectors since 2006. The London CMA—where I live—was down almost 9%, with most of the decline coming from the manufacturing side. <br /><br /><b>UPDATE</b>: Since this was retweeted outside of Southwestern Ontario, I swapped the original graphic for one that includes the CMAs and CAs across the province. The top 15 are listed. I also slightly narrowed the scope to include only computer and communications manufacturing. http://blog.garywill.com/2013/07/waterloo-area-leaps-past-ottawa.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-8355343149626359896Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:19:00 +00002013-06-03T16:19:59.036-04:00FedDev Q4: TribeHR, big contributions in Woodstock and Brampton ... and a lot of community infrastructureAfter spending the last year focused on helping businesses, FedDev turned its attention back to infrastructure for its new contributions in the period ended March 31.<br /><br />With the rollout of the <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00826.html" target="_blank">Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund</a>, there was a ton of activity disclosed in the quarter, with over 100 projects funded in Southwestern Ontario alone. The largest was a $775,224 toward the City of Waterloo's upgrade of Waterloo Park. You can see the <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/01590.html" target="_blank">full list of funded projects</a>.<br /><br />There were only three new disclosed repayable contributions for Southwestern Ontario businesses in the quarter.<br /><br />First, there was the $542,399 in <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00324.html" target="_blank">Investing in Business Innovation funding</a> for Kitchener's <a href="http://tribehr.com/" target="_blank">TribeHR</a> that was <a href="http://tribehr.com/company/news-media/press-releases/government-of-canada-supports-innovative-technologies-in-waterloo-region" target="_blank">announced not long after it happened</a> (still a rarity with government funding of all kinds). <br /><br />The other two were large contributions under FedDev's <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00398.html" target="_blank">Prosperity Initiative</a>—$2.5 million to Woodstock's <a href="http://northamericanstamping.com/facilities/woodstock-stampings-inc/" target="_blank">NASG Canada</a> (North American Stamping Group) and another $2.5 million for a company in Brantford listed as 1818155 Ontario Inc. (a Google search only turned up sketchy details and no operating name).<br /><br />And that was it for the quarter. <br /><br />Across the province, the largest new contribution was $2.7 million for the <a href="http://occ.on.ca/" target="_blank">Ontario Chamber of Commerce</a>, also through the Prosperity Initiative program. That funding was <a href="http://occ.on.ca/2013/feddev-ontario-invests-in-the-occs-global-growth-fund/" target="_blank">announced a couple of weeks ago</a>.http://blog.garywill.com/2013/06/feddev-q4-tribehr-big-contributions-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-8865088783480125286Thu, 16 May 2013 15:51:00 +00002013-05-16T14:28:10.799-04:00Strawman arguments against government support for startups still leave tough questions to answerLast July, <a href="http://blog.garywill.com/2012/07/canadian-tech-sector-isnt-vanishing-but.html" target="_blank">I mentioned</a> that "there is increasingly a mood in Canada that we've been wasting too many resources on small startups that will never become large firms." In the months since, there's been a lot more written on that theme, much of it aimed at government policymakers. <br /><br />There can be more than a touch of theatrical performance in these pieces. Often, the intended-but-not-explicit message is "why government needs to provide more funding for things we do ... and less for things those guys are doing"&nbsp; (or, "why government should have funded what we do and not that tripe they chose to fund instead").<br /><br />But, motivations aside, the ideas will stand or fall on their own. The pieces I've read have largely been rebuttals of strawman arguments for why startups are supported in the first place and come from a highly hands-on view of government's role in building businesses.<br /><br />It's not unreasonable to question whether we should skew our limited resources toward startups per se. Most new businesses in Canada are in such sectors as local services, real estate, retail, and so on—many started by people who want to generate an income and run their own show (which is great—I've done it a few times myself) but aren't really looking to grow a business. They often don't sell to customers outside of their local region, let alone the province or the country. And they never will, and they have no plans to get much bigger than they are now.<br /><br />In our little tech bubble, we hear "startups" and have in mind innovation-based companies like those at the Communitech Hub or the Accelerator Centre, but those kinds of startups are far from representative of new businesses in general. Tech startups don't even comprise 5% of business startups in Canada (that partly depends on how you define "tech", but by any common definition it's a small number). <br /><br />In <a href="http://www.competeprosper.ca/index.php/work/working_papers/working_paper_15/" target="_blank">a report last year</a>, the Toronto-based Institute for Competitiveness &amp; Prosperity bemoaned that much public policy was based on "an exaggerated sense of the importance of all smaller businesses" and suggested a distinction between small businesses and "entrepreneurial businesses," which it defined as ones with an "ambition to grow." Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham even <a href="http://paulgraham.com/growth.html" target="_blank">tried to define "startup"</a> as "a company designed to grow fast," saying that "being newly founded does not in itself make a company a startup." I can't go along with that, but within the tech field, the difference between new and growth-oriented is going to be less than in most sectors. <br /><br />There are exceptions, but most tech startups at least have ambitions to grow, and—even better from an economic development perspective—hope to do so through sales in international markets. Other than some service businesses, it's difficult to sustain a tech business by selling only within your local area. <br /><br />But that doesn't let tech startups off the hook. You could say that ambitions are nice, but as things turn out, many tech startups won't grow or will quickly plateau. These days, we tend to find that out more quickly and inexpensively than before, but it is usually the case that startups don't grow to be very big.<br /><br />Daniel Isenberg, writing on the Harvard Business Review website, ("<a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/11/focus_entrepreneurship_policy.html" target="_blank">Focus Entrepreneurship Policy on Scale-Up, Not Start-Up</a>," November 30) claimed that pro-startup policies are based on "a narrow conception of entrepreneurship as consisting primarily in the starting-up of an enterprise."<br /><br />According to Isenberg, government has supported starups because they "equat[e] entrepreneurship with start-up"—something I don't think has actually been done by anyone anywhere. It's true that you'll hear the word "entrepreneur" tossed around a lot in discussions of startups, and there's no question that one way to support entrepreneurship is to encourage more people to choose that path—which begins with a startup. But no one equates the two. Governmement provides far more funding for established companies with growth plans than it does to startups—it's not even close. <br /><br />Look at the <a href="http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/paccts/2012/" target="_blank">Public Accounts of Ontario</a> for the 2012 fiscal year and you'll see dozens of established companies receiving millions of dollars each (sometimes tens of millions). It's the same story at the federal level. Startups don't get that kind of funding—and they shouldn't and don't need it. When you look at the numbers, it's hard to see how anyone could reasonably conclude that government is equating entrepreneurship with startups. If anything, it's the long list of established companies receiving government funding that brings out the cries of "corporate welfare"—or corporate extortion as companies threaten to move jobs to whichever jurisdiction agrees to pay them.<br /><br />It's an issue where different people will come to different, reasonable conclusions. Some will oppose direct government support of businesses of any size. I don't go that far down the hands-off path, but I have a much easier time justifying the relatively small amounts spent to support startups than the millions given directly to well-established businesses.<br /><br />Most startups don't have cash and can't pay for expertise or hire a full management team. They may have nothing on the balance sheet other than goodwill and a few thousand dollars in computers and furniture, which makes borrowing money very difficult. They have ideas, but those aren't worth much in themselves.<br /><br />Established companies don't have any of those excuses. We've seen companies with billions in the bank get millions from the government. Companies that could raise millions more if they needed to, but—understandably—would prefer the cheap money that government is willing to provide. <br /><br />It doesn't take millions to help startups. The entire government budget to support the startup ecosystem is far less than many of the payments made to single established companies. A bit of coaching and networking through the early market validation stages can go a long way, especially with tech startups where the founders often have technical skills and a vision of a product but no experience in testing their ideas through interaction with their target market. The marginal cost per startup is very low. A little help goes a long way, which isn't true for established companies.<br /><br />Returning to Isenberg for another strawman argument, he says that funding for programs to help startups is based on the common fallacy that "the most difficult and important task of the entrepreneur is launching." And again, I've never heard anyone say this—not even startup entrepreneurs, who would be the most likely suspects. I'm pretty sure we all realize that becoming BlackBerry (or your nearest 75-employee company, for that matter) is a lot more difficult than launching a startup.<br /><br />One of the suggestions has been that, when it comes to early-stage companies, we should only support the ones that will grow to be big. That sounds good, but in some ways it's like saying we should only buy winning lottery tickets. That sounds good too.<br /><br />Startups give you much better than 14 million-to-one odds, but in the early stages, it's not possible to know which will be big and which won't (some that won't may be fairly clear). You could always wait until companies are well on their way to growing big and then support them, but by then they will already had to have cleared lots of hurdles—including some that are much easier to navigate with a bit of mentoring and feedback. The longer you wait, the more likely you'll be "helping" companies that either don't need your help or shouldn't need it, if our expectation is that companies need to stand on their own two feet at some point.<br /><br />The Institute for Competitiveness &amp; Prosperity says people defending support for startups evoke "information asymmetry" as an argument (which it then tears down), but that's yet another strawman. The issue isn't that someone has better information than someone else, it's that nobody knows, and nobody can know at that point which startups will succeed and which won't. You can do all the "due dilligence" you want, and while you will be able to filter out some companies, it's still going to be a gamble. Too much of a gamble for banks or other sources of support that established companies can turn to. Those options aren't available to most startups.<br /><br />So there seems to be no shortage of folks eager to misrepresent the reason for supporting startups—people who create simple-minded justifications that are easy to attack. Unfortunately, the pro-startup responses also tend to be simple-minded and easy to ignore. Some of the biggest offenders are those that talk about how "small businesses" (most of which are not startups) account for some very impressive percentage of something-government-cares-about. That may be a useful sentence, but now you have to fill up the rest of the page, and it's those other paragraphs that are going to make the difference in your argument.<br /><br />In that <a href="http://blog.garywill.com/2012/07/canadian-tech-sector-isnt-vanishing-but.html" target="_blank">blog post last summer</a> I wrote that "the task ahead is to explain to policymakers and Canadians in general why having a thousand microbusinesses that few people outside of our little enclave have ever heard of is a sign of a healthy industry that is worthy of support and investment." That's still the big challenge.<br /><br />Startup communities in Canada and around the world are full of tiny businesses that hardly anyone outside of that community has heard of. And there's dozens more with every graduating cohort of any of the who-knows-how-many Y Combinator-ish accelerator programs now operating. They'll all have cool names and logos and hardly any revenue. The majority of them will never have 10 employees, let alone 50 (which would still be considered a small business). Should we be concerned that only a tiny percentage of our startups ever grow to be even a larger small business? <br /><br />I've seen hundreds of startups over the last 10 years—in one of the best startup communities in the world—and many of them are doing very well, but I'd guess that I could count on my fingers the ones that have more than 50 employees today. Is that a problem? There could be another 20 new startups in the next month. That's seems pretty good. Is it? Even if none of them grow to any significant size? Are we only supporting startups to catch the ones that will grow to 50+ or 100+ employees, or if we constantly have hundreds of microbusinesses, is that okay too?<br /><br />These are the tough questions for startup supporters—at least for those relying on government funding (there are some trying to avoid that, but government-funded initiatives are a big part of the current ecosystem in Ontario). Without good answers, we may leave our fate in the hands of those who will come up with poor answers ... just so they can show how poor they are.http://blog.garywill.com/2013/05/strawman-arguments-against-government.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-6683461779105263994Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:47:00 +00002013-04-25T16:16:26.011-04:00My lean (ugh) startup guruI had my introduction to management consulting in the 1990s—the peak of the management fad era that had begun the previous decade. One of the biggest fads was "<a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Reengineering-Corporation-Manifesto-Business-Revolution/dp/088730687X/" target="_blank">reengineering</a>"—so popular that it became the euphemism of choice for "layoffs" which, in practice, was already a euphemism for job cuts. There were a lot of those in the 90s, and you couldn't go long without hearing about some company's new "reengineering" strategy.<br /><br />Veteran consultants told me there really wasn't much that was new about reengineering other than the label—which they would often roll their eyes at. But it was new to me (just about everything was), and became one of the many management philosophies and methodologies I immersed myself in through the decade.<br /><br />Somehow, I've now become one of the experienced guys, and today I think back to those times whenever I hear "lean" around startups. Eye rolling is often involved.<br /><br />I'm a big supporter of many of the core concepts that now fall under the "lean" banner—they've been fundamental to much of the work I've done with startups over the last 10 years—but the label itself always grates. <br /><br />Much like those veteran consultants from 20 years ago, I think the problems I have are that too much credit goes to the person who came up with the label and that the newness of the label can lead people to believe that the concepts are much newer than they really are.<br /><br />I'd probably be fine if the bulk of the credit went to Steve Blank. And much of it does. Though many of the concepts didn't start with him, he was the one who brought them together and synthesized them in a modern tech startup context. His "customer development" (never roll my eyes at that one) approach is not only the foundation of lean, but its four walls as well. Maybe the ceiling too. When tech people talk about "lean" not only should Blank's name come first, there shouldn't be anyone else mentioned in the same sentence or even paragraph. But he isn't the one who came up with the "lean" label, so that often isn't the case. In some circles, derivative and often dumbed-down versions of Blank get more recognition than the original.<br /><br />But Blank wasn't my lean (ugh) guru. For years, from the time I started working with startups in the late 1990s, the voice I could often feel myself channelling belonged to Joe Cossman. If you're old enough to remember Cossman at all, it's likely from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMbomGMbnW0" target="_blank">his 1980s infomercials</a>. That's where I came across him, when I was either a high school student or undergrad. The big winners that he talked about from his career included the ant farm and the spud gun. He wasn't exactly launching or running Fortune 500 businesses with products that change the world, but then that's true for most startup entrepreneurs.<br /><br />Cossman lived to see the web—he died in 2002—but his biggest business successes, and certainly his infomercials, were pre-web. If he'd been born later, I think he would have loved the Internet. He would say that all you need to start a business is a typewriter, stationery, postage and perseverance. The Internet has since replaced the first three, so today you could translate his requirements as the Internet and perseverance, which is the foundation for a lot of startups.<br /><br />But Cossman wasn't encouraging blind perseverance. One of his key points—and one that stuck with me for years to come—was that entrepreneurs too often wasted money building products without putting them to the test of the marketplace first—and that this was something they could have done inexpensively, and should have done early on.<br /><br />I don't have much from Cossman to pull quotes from, other than memories (possibly misty, water-coloured ones), but this brief excerpt from one of his infomercials—recorded with my first VCR—is definitely proto-customer-development:<br /><br /><i>"This is where most people go astray. Unfortunately, someone will design or create a product and they become emotionally involved over that product. It's almost like it's one of their children. And that traffic light is flashing red, red, red and all they see is green. And before you turn around, they've hocked the family jewels, they've made inventory, they've made tools and molds and then they're looking for a way of selling it. <br /><br />Only a week ago, a man came to me and he had a good product, but he had put $300,000 into that product and ran out of money. Yet, when he came to me a week ago, truthfully, I could have showed him where to be at the same position he is today for less than $2,000. Because I won't allow a man or woman to make more than one of anything. Don't make 10,000, don't make 5,000. One sample—I call it a prototype—can give you the same answers as a large inventory. Because, when you have a good sample, you can photograph it, you can put out a publicity release, you can take it to department store buyers and get an opinion on it, you can show it to mail order houses, and that's all you need is one sample."</i><br /><br />He's not talking about software and someone who doesn't easily see the view from 10,000 feet may not spot it at first, but the key concepts at the heart of "customer development" are in there and in many other things Cossman said. He was talking lean (blech) 30 years ago, and there were no doubt many others before him.<br /><br />I'm not suggesting that anyone today needs to read Cossman or seek out his infomercials. The world has changed. I've had decades to let Cossman's ideas evolve in my head with the times and seeing them now for the first time would be jarring. There's more than enough resources available from a current perspective (Blank's <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/The-Four-Steps-Epiphany-Successful/dp/0976470705/" target="_blank"><i>Four Steps to the Epiphany</i></a> is still the best place to start).<br /><br />But Joe Cossman was the one who put these thoughts in my head all those years ago and someone whose ideas I've remembered every year since. <br /><br />Yes, the ant farm guy from the infomercials. He was my lean (eyeroll) <eyeroll> guru.</eyeroll>http://blog.garywill.com/2013/04/my-lean-ugh-startup-guru.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-7868139189194935331Sat, 20 Apr 2013 21:15:00 +00002013-04-20T17:18:11.842-04:00Spinning the unemployment numbersStatistics Canada releases its <i>Labour Force Information</i> report every month, and while each edition contains many new numbers, almost all of them play a barely-audible second-fiddle to the unemployment rate.<br /><br />I live in part of Middlesex County that falls within the London census metropolitan area (CMA). This area had a panic attack when the March figures were released a couple of weeks ago. You'll quickly see why when you scan the unemployment rates of the 15 CMAs in Ontario covered in the report:<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td>Guelph</td><td>6.0%</td></tr><tr><td>Ottawa</td><td>6.1</td></tr><tr><td>Hamilton</td><td>6.1</td></tr><tr><td>Thunder Bay</td><td>6.3</td></tr><tr><td>Kingston</td><td>6.3</td></tr><tr><td>Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo &nbsp;</td><td>7.2 &nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>Barrie</td><td>7.3</td></tr><tr><td>Brantford</td><td>7.7</td></tr><tr><td>Greater Sudbury</td><td>7.8</td></tr><tr><td>St. Catharines-Niagara</td><td>7.9</td></tr><tr><td>Toronto</td><td>8.4</td></tr><tr><td>Oshawa</td><td>8.6</td></tr><tr><td>Windsor</td><td>9.0</td></tr><tr><td>London</td><td>9.6</td></tr><tr><td>Peterborough</td><td>10.2</td></tr></tbody></table><br />You might think it would be hard to put out a positive spin when your number is second from the bottom (and as close to the bottom as it is to the one ahead of you). But when you look at the numbers—all of the numbers—it turns out that it's not so difficult to find a silver lining. <br /><br />And that got me wondering how hard it would be to find something strongly positive to say about each of the 15 CMAs—based solely on their Labour Force Information stats—no matter how bad their unemployment rate is. I was particularly thinking of what municipal politicians might say to put the best spin on their local numbers.<br /><br />Obviously, the ones with the lowest unemployment rates are a piece of cake:<br /><ol><li><b>Guelph</b>: We have the lowest uemployment rate of any CMA in Ontario.</li><li><b>Ottawa</b>: We're neck-and-neck with Guelph for the lowest unemployment rate in Ontario. The 22,400 net new jobs we created last year was second only to Toronto.</li><li><b>Hamilton</b>: We're neck-and-neck with Guelph for the lowest unemployment rate in Ontario.</li><li><b>Thunder Bay</b>: We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in Ontario.</li><li><b>Kingston</b>: We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in Ontario and are second among all CMAs in Ontario in net new jobs created per capita since the last municipal election.</li></ol>Let's see what we can come up with for the 10 remaining CMAs that won't be able to brag about their current unemployment rates.<br /><ol><li value="6"><b>Barrie</b>: We've created more jobs per capita than any CMA in the province since the last election and have seen the largest drop in unemployment rate among all Ontario CMAs. (I like that one.)</li><li><b>Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo</b>: Among the CMAs with a population over 200,000, no one has created more jobs per capita than we have since the last election—nearly 15,000 net new jobs.</li><li><b>London</b>: Outside of the huge urban areas of Toronto and Ottawa, no CMA in the province created as many jobs as we did last year. (See! We got something.)</li><li><b>Toronto</b>: Since the last election, we've created more new jobs than all the other 14 CMAs in Ontario combined, and are in the top four even on a per capita basis. </li><li><b>Windsor</b>: Since the last election, we've had the second biggest drop in unemployment rate among the 15 CMAs in Ontario.</li><li><b>Greater Sudbury</b>: Since the last election, we've created the third most jobs per capita among the 15 CMAs in Ontario and have the third highest drop in unemployment rate.</li><li><b>Brantford</b>: Among the less urban CMAs in Ontario—the seven with a population under 200,000—only Barrie created more jobs than we did last year.</li><li><b>St. Catharines-Niagara</b>: Since the last election, we've created a net 12,300 new jobs— only two CMAs in Ontario have created more jobs per capita than we have. Our drop in unemployment rate makes us one of the top four performers in the province.</li><li><b>Oshawa</b>: Since the last election, our unemployment rate has dropped from 10.1% to 8.6%—a performance that puts us in the top third of all CMAs in the province. (Showing some stretch marks but still okay.)</li><li><b>Peterborough</b>: You know, these labour force numbers aren't the be-all and end-all.</li></ol>http://blog.garywill.com/2013/04/spinning-unemployment-numbers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-4475332878188217529Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:10:00 +00002013-03-04T11:22:35.250-05:00Cyborg Trading receives largest IRAP contribution in Canada in Q3 disclosuresJust a few weeks after Cyborg Trading <a href="http://blog.garywill.com/2012/10/cyborg-trading-systems-shows-that.html" target="_blank">received $381,500 through FedDev's Prosperity Initiative</a>, the company got another big boost, this time from IRAP—a long-time supporter of the company. Cyborg has received $842,000, the largest contribution made by IRAP anywhere in Canada in the quarter (it actually happened late in IRAP's Q2, but was disclosed with the Q3 contributions).<br /><br />Also receiving six-figure contributions (or thereabouts) were Pyramid Farms in Leamington and Waterloo Region's Accelerator Centre, Clearpath Robotics, and Miovision Technologies.<br /><br /><b>Disclosed IRAP contributions, Q3 FY2013:</b><br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://cyborgtrading.com/">Cyborg Trading Systems</a></td><td>London</td><td>$842,000</td></tr><tr><td>Pyramid Farms</td><td>Leamington</td><td>$203,265</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.acceleratorcentre.com/">Accelerator Centre</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$125,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.clearpathrobotics.com/">Clearpath Robotics</a></td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$103,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.miovision.com/">Miovision Technologies</a></td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$99,999</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.innovationguelph.ca/">Innovation Guelph</a></td><td>Guelph</td><td>$80,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.sarnialambton.on.ca/">Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership</a> &nbsp;</td><td>Sarnia</td><td>$80,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.guelphchamber.com/">Guelph Chamber Of Commerce</a></td><td>Guelph</td><td>$65,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://ballmedia.com/">Ball Media</a></td><td>Brantford</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.ptacs.com/">Applied Comfort Products</a></td><td>Cambridge</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.ihealthsolutions.net/">Intelligent Health Solutions</a></td><td>Fergus</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.westbrosfurniture.com/">West Furniture</a> Co.</td><td>Hanover</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.horizon-furniture.com/">Horizon Furniture Distributors</a></td><td>Kitchener</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.ledc.com/">London Economic Development Corp.</a></td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://can.cemview.com/dnn/">Nexus Solutions</a></td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://scisense.com/">Scisense</a></td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td>Trac Rail</td><td>London</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.spstalls.net/">SP Stalls &amp; Storage</a></td><td>Mount Brydges &nbsp;</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.soctechnologies.com/">System-On-Chip Technologies</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.sportsystemscorp.com/">Sport Systems Unlimited</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.maplesoft.com/">Maplesoft</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.sandvine.com/">Sandvine</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.bioinfor.com/">Bioinformatics Solutions</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.virtek.ca/">Virtek Vision International</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.giftopia.me/">Giftopia</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.avenirmedical.com/">Avenir Medical</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$50,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.wetech-alliance.com/">WEtech Alliance</a></td><td>Windsor</td><td>$49,750</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.essexweldsolutions.com/">Essex Weld Solutions</a></td><td>Essex</td><td>$49,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.aeryon.com/">Aeryon Labs</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$49,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.digitalboundary.net/">Digital Boundary Group</a></td><td>London</td><td>$48,400</td></tr><tr><td>Cennatek Bioanalytical Services</td><td>Sarnia</td><td>$48,000</td></tr><tr><td>Cedarline Greenhouses</td><td>Dresden</td><td>$47,517</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.integra-medical.com/">Integra Medical</a></td><td>London</td><td>$46,500</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.windsormachine.com/">Windsor Machine &amp; Stamping</a></td><td>Windsor</td><td>$41,800</td></tr><tr><td>Mahle Filter Systems Canada</td><td>Tilbury</td><td>$40,050</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.sparkmatrix.com/">Sparkmatrix Technologies</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$40,013</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.enviro-stewards.com/">Enviro-Stewards</a></td><td>Elmira</td><td>$40,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.karoshealth.com/">Karos Health</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$40,000</td></tr><tr><td>Brunato Farms</td><td>Leamington</td><td>$39,965</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.sixspartners.com/">Six S Partners</a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$33,892</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://citymedia.ca/">City Media Network</a></td><td>London</td><td>$30,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.lamko.com/">Lamko Tool &amp; Mold</a></td><td>London</td><td>$28,772</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.tesla-digital.com/td/">Tesla Digital</a></td><td>Windsor</td><td>$28,000</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Lots of familiar names on the list. The economic development groups for London (LEDC) and Sarnia (SLEP) both received funding, as did the regional innovation centres for Guelph (Innovation Guelph) and Windsor (WEtech Alliance). I don't include them in the Southwestern Ontario group, but Hamilton's Innovation Factory received one of the larger contributions in the quarter—$100,000.<br /><br /><i>Also see <a href="http://blog.garywill.com/2013/02/feddev-q3-big-contributions-for.html" target="_blank">FedDev Q3 fundings</a>. </i>http://blog.garywill.com/2013/03/cyborg-trading-receives-largest-irap.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-4069058870742049924Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:28:00 +00002013-10-02T22:10:22.976-04:00FedDev Q3: Big contributions for Southwestern Ontario topped by Western's $13.7MFedDev has disclosed its contributions for the period ended December 31 and it was a strong quarter for Southwestern Ontario, which accounted for five of the top seven new fundings.<br /><br />The largest contribution in the province was the $13.7 million for Western University to go toward the Fraunhofer Project Centre and a new centre for commercialization of advanced manufacturing technology. That funding, under FedDev's <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00398.html">Prosperity Initiative</a>, was <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/01547.html">announced in November</a>. <br /><br />FedDev's second largest funding in the quarter also went to Southwestern Ontario—$7.3 million to the University of Windsor, also under the Prosperity Initiative program. I haven't seen an announcement for that one yet. Windsor had been looking for FedDev funding for its new Institute for Border Logistics and Security, but I don't know if this is related to that or something else. [<b>UPDATE</b>: That's what it was. It wasn't announced until October ... seven months after I posted this.]<br /><br /><b>Disclosed FedDev fundings in Southwestern Ontario:</b><br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td>University of Western Ontario</td><td>London</td><td>$13,700,000 </td></tr><tr><td>University of Windsor</td><td>Windsor</td><td>$7,291,785 </td></tr><tr><td>Communitech</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$6,448,772 </td></tr><tr><td>Lambton Conveyor</td><td>Chatham-Kent &nbsp;</td><td>$3,111,667 </td></tr><tr><td>exactEarth</td><td>Cambridge</td><td>$2,490,740 </td></tr><tr><td>Waterloo Accelerator Centre</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$945,000 </td></tr><tr><td>Wilfrid Laurier University</td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$216,842 </td></tr><tr><td>Southwestern Ontario Angel Group &nbsp;</td><td>London</td><td>$100,000 </td></tr></tbody></table><br />The third largest contribution was announced last week: Communitech receiving $6.4 million under the <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00332.html">Technology Development Program</a> to go toward the development of two new satellites. Cambridge's exactEarth is receiving a $2.5 million repayable contribution for a related project (<a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/01630.html">last week's news release</a> has the details).<br /><br />The $3.1 million repayable contribution to Lambton Conveyor to help it set up a new facility in the Wallaceburg area of Chatham-Kent was <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/01588.html">announced in December</a>. That was also under the Prosperity Initiative.<br /><br />The other big contribution in Southwestern Ontario in the quarter was $945,000 given to the Accelerator Centre in November as part of FedDev's <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00337.html">Scientists and Engineers in Business</a> program, which helps STEM grads and grad students launch startups. Under the same program, Mississauga's RIC Centre received an additional $2.5 million in the quarter, which is on top of the $5 million it was given just over a year ago. The RIC Centre has worked with startups in Waterloo Region and across Ontario through its <a href="http://venturestart.riccentre.ca/" target="_blank">VentureStart</a> program, and Waterloo's Canadian Innovation Centre has also been involved in the delivery of that FedDev-funded program. Also falling under the Scientists and Engineers in Business program was an additional $500,000 in the quarter for OCE. It was originally allocated up to $1.1 million a year ago.<br /><br />Under FedDev's <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00261.html">Applied Research and Commercialization</a> program, which provides funding to universities and colleges to do research-related work on behalf of companies, the University of Windsor saw its funding bumped by $250,000 in the quarter, which means that its total funding under the program ($1.5 million) is now on par with that provided to UW, Conestoga College, and University of Guelph (which received an additional $50,000 in the quarter)—and well above that received by Western University. That's particularly impressive given that Western initially received 55% more funding than Windsor, but while Western had the biggest drop between initial and extended funding among all ARC-funded universities in Ontario, Windsor clearly made the program work and had the biggest gain.<br /><br />The $216,842 received by Laurier in the quarter was under FedDev's <a href="http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_00335.html">Graduate Enterprise Internship</a> program, which helps companies hire recent STEM graduates. There was some rejigging of the amounts allocated under that program in the quarter, with the Research Park in London (-6.2%) and the University of Waterloo (-9.5%) both showing small reductions to their funding, but with the new money provided to Laurier.<br /><br />Bolton-based PerspecSys ($742,500) and Toronto's TopHatMonocle ($750,000), which both have Waterloo connections, received funding under FedDev's <a href="http:///">Investing in Business Innovation</a> program, which partially matches angel group/VC investment in companies. The same program provides funding to angel groups, and London's SWOAG got its $100,000 during the quarter.<br /><br />http://blog.garywill.com/2013/02/feddev-q3-big-contributions-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-2238457762724424954Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:53:00 +00002013-02-01T10:18:02.679-05:00Population densities in Southwestern Ontario and the urban/rural divideIt's municipal budget season again, which brings a slew of reports and presentations related to short-term and long-term funding needs.<br /><br />Earlier this week, Chatham-Kent council received a consultant's report comparing population densities among various Ontario municipalities. Population density can be a significant factor in municipal expenses and tax rates as low-density areas have to figure out how to provide services to a population spread out over a wider area. <br /><br />The report showed Chatham-Kent at the bottom end of the density chart, completely dwarfed by every other municipality shown. I expect Chatham-Kent to have a low density, but having spent the last couple of years living and working in low-density areas, it wasn't clear to me that it was really that much of an outlier.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wjE71t0HsD8/UQqgyDFYncI/AAAAAAAAE2o/c05nNI14nZg/s1600/pop-density.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wjE71t0HsD8/UQqgyDFYncI/AAAAAAAAE2o/c05nNI14nZg/s1600/pop-density.jpg" /></a></div><br />It turns out that it isn't. When you look at population density figures for all top-tier municipalities in Southwestern Ontario, Chatham-Kent's is comparable to that of surrounding small urban and rural areas (and higher than Middlesex County, where I live, although I live in a denser-than-average part). Whatever challenges come from low density, there are a lot of us in Southwestern Ontario in the same boat. Obviously, cities are more dense, but the graph really shows the urban/rural divide.<br /><br />The cities of Kitchener and Waterloo aren't on the graph, since they're part of Waterloo Region. If they were, they'd take the top two spots. The City of Waterloo is hardly the densest place in the world, but it still has more than 35 times as many people per square kilometre as Chatham-Kent and more than 60 times as many as Middlesex County.<br /><br />Low density is another of the challenges faced by small urban and rural Ontario that I hadn't been accustomed to, coming from Toronto and Waterloo. Although, having said that, looking at the graph it seems pretty clear that the magnitude of the challenge doesn't correlate (inversely) with the height of the bars.<br /><br />(Statistics Canada population density numbers are essentially an average across a municipality. As with any averages, they have the potential to be misleading. For example, a municipality could cover a wide area but have most of its population packed into one or two small parts. That's often the case. There's typically a lot of intra-municipality deviation from the average. What Statistics Canada calls the "population centre" of London—which excludes much of the area near the 401—has nearly twice the density of what's shown above. The population centre of Chatham has more than 30 times the density of Chatham-Kent.)http://blog.garywill.com/2013/01/population-densities-in-southwestern.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-6479651925977631529Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:46:00 +00002012-12-21T11:51:50.742-05:00Ontario Jobs & Prosperity Council emphasizes exports, productivity, innovation<i><a href="http://www.ontariocanada.com/ontcan/1medt/en/home_en.jsp" target="_blank">Advantage Ontario</a>,</i> the full report of the Ontario Jobs &amp; Prosperity Council—chaired by Royal Bank CEO Gord Nixon—was released on Wednesday. It focuses on five areas: exports, productivity, innovation/entrepreneurship, skills/training, and regulation.<br /><br />The report mostly repeats a lot of familiar observations at a very high level, so we get the usual (which isn't to say incorrect) plaints about how Ontario businesses underinvest in R&amp;D, how the regulatory burden is an impediment to growth, that our companies need to focus more on exports to emerging markets, that government business support programs are too fragmented, immigration is vital, manufacturing is critical to the economy, not enough parents and students appreciate careers in the skilled trades, and so on. All things we've heard many times before.<br /><br />Which would be fine, if the report facilitated action on fixing these issues, but in most cases the recommendations are only a notch or two above "something should be done about it" (or, in many cases, "something has been done, but we think there's need for more"). The report is heavy on obvious exhortations and light on anything that will change what anyone does tomorrow morning, and there are rarely specifics that would make their implementation any easier today than the last dozen times the same ideas have been suggested.<br /><br />On innovation and entrepreneurship, the council suggests the creation of a "business-led commercialization voucher" to encourage collaboration between businesses and public research institutions. (How this would be different from the many existing subsidies for industry-academic partnerships isn't specified.) It says that funding in the <a href="http://www.oneinnovation.ca/en/Home.aspx" target="_blank">Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE)</a> program should be "better aligned" with the needs of "regional clusters with the greatest potential for growth"—which is one way to allocate increasingly scarce resources, although now that I've expanded my horizons from two of the biggest "have" clusters in the province (Toronto and Waterloo) to some of the "need-to-have" regions, I'd be worried about taking this approach too far. There's a lot of potential for strengthening the economy through innovation improvements in areas outside of the leading clusters.<br /><br />The report also encourages the elimination of barriers to crowdfunding, and supports the exploration of other measures such as an angel investment tax credit.<br /><br />The council wants the province to replace its current "too fragmented and too complex" business support programs with a "one-window" model that focuses on exports, productivity and innovation. The programs would be delivered through a Jobs and Prosperity Fund, which the report suggests should start at $150 million a year and expand as existing programs come to an end with those expenditures (minus spending cuts) then allocated to the fund. Incentives for foreign direct investment would be funded separately from the Jobs and Prosperity Fund.<br /><br />Initiatives to help university and college students start their own businesses (<a href="http://digitalmediazone.ryerson.ca/" target="_blank">Ryerson's Digital Media Zone</a> and <a href="http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/FacultyAndResearch/EducationCentres/DesignWorks.aspx" target="_blank">U of T's DesignWorks</a> are specifically mentioned) are lauded by the council, which also recommends the creation of "entrepreneurship high schools" and more entrepreneurship education in secondary schools.<br /><br />From a council with heavy representation from business (RIM's Mike Lazaridis and Linamar's Linda Hasenfratz were among the members), the section on productivity is disappointingly short on discussion that would be of value to business managers and is mostly written at the usual "sitting in my office crunching StatsCan data in a spreadsheet" level that has repeatedly been shown to be every bit as ineffective in shaping management decisions as you should expect.<br /><br />The council was not enthusiastic about a proposed tax credit that would reimburse employers 10% of salaries of new hires in their first year of employment. And the report floats the idea that expanded user fees may be necessary to pay for all the infrastructure improvements the province will need to remain globally competitive.<br /><br />Pages 29-35 summarize the report and its recommendations. The focus on productivity, innovation and exports captures much of the current "state of the province" thinking, and if the report doesn't exactly clear many new paths, it's useful in pointing the direction we're heading.http://blog.garywill.com/2012/12/ontario-jobs-prosperity-council.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-3282786759384953016Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:30:00 +00002012-11-30T13:02:47.680-05:00FedDev Q2 fundings include Maluuba, Avenir, Dejero, Axonify, GTAN and Cyborg TradingKudos to the staff at FedDev for announcing most of the contributions for the July to September period before the quarterly disclosures were posted. The most significant not-yet-announced funding from the list is $925,000 for <a href="http://www.dejero.com/" target="_blank">Dejero</a>, made through FedDev's Investing in Business Innovation program (which means there was additional angel funding for the company as well).<br /><br />Angel groups across Southern Ontario are getting $100,000 this year from FedDev and GTAN received its funding in the quarter.<br /><br />Funding to businesses is repayble.<br /><br /><b>Disclosed FedDev fundings in (or related to) Southwestern Ontario:</b><br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.maluuba.com/" target="_blank">Maluuba</a> </td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$980,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.avenirmedical.com/" target="_blank">Avenir Medical </a></td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$950,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.dejero.com/" target="_blank">Dejero</a> </td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$925,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.axonify.com/" target="_blank">Axonify</a> </td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$750,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.sweettoothrewards.com/" target="_blank">Sweet Tooth</a> </td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$750,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://cyborgtrading.com/" target="_blank">Cyborg Trading Systems</a></td><td>London</td><td>$381,500</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.ontcfdc.com/" target="_blank">Ontario Association Of CFDCs</a></td><td>St. Thomas &nbsp;</td><td>$170,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.aurpcanada.ca/" target="_blank">AURP Canada</a>&nbsp; </td><td>Waterloo</td><td>$129,500</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.goldentriangleangelnet.ca/" target="_blank">Golden Triangle Angel Network</a></td><td>Cambridge</td><td>$100,000</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.cfdcwest.ca/" target="_blank">Western Ontario CFDC Association</a> &nbsp;</td><td>Thorold</td><td>$45,000</td></tr></tbody></table><br />AURP Canada is a national organization, headed by Carol Stewart at the David Johnston Research and Technology Park at UW. The Ontario Association of CFDCs is based in St. Thomas and serves all of Ontario. The Western Ontario CFDC Association covers an area that includes all of Southwestern Ontario.<br /><br /><i>Also see the latest <a href="http://blog.garywill.com/2012/11/a-labs-london-and-communitech-top-swo.html" target="_blank">IRAP contributions</a>. </i>http://blog.garywill.com/2012/11/feddev-q2-funding-includes-maluuba.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-9180621061000444959Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:26:00 +00002012-11-30T13:07:34.305-05:00A&L Labs (London) and Communitech top SWO IRAP contributions, July-SeptemberIRAP has disclosed its Q2 contributions—the period covering July, August, and September. Topping the list among recipients in Southwestern Ontario is <a href="http://www.alcanada.com/" target="_blank">A&amp;L Labs</a> in London and <a href="http://www.communitech.ca/" target="_blank">Communitech</a> in Waterloo Region, with London's <a href="http://www.q5x.com/" target="_blank">Quantum5X</a> also in the six-figure range.<br /><br />Other recipients include Big Blue Bubble, TechAlliance, Avvasi, CrossChasm, Aeryon, IMAP, Akira, Powernoodle, Renix, Neoventures, and LifeLike Biotissue.<br /><br /><b>Disclosed IRAP contributions for Southwestern Ontario:</b><br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">A&amp;L Laboratories Canada </span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London </span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$436,839</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Communitech</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kitchener</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$300,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Quantum5x Systems</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$126,623</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Delhi Solac</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Delhi</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$80,095</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Big Blue Bubble</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$60,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Can-Technologies</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cambridge</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$50,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Clearwater Clinical</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$50,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Polyanalytik</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$50,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">TechAlliance</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$50,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ontario Drive And Gear</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">New Hamburg &nbsp;</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$50,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mitten</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Paris</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$50,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Avvasi</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Waterloo</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$50,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Crosschasm Technologies</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Waterloo</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$50,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Huron Technologies International</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Waterloo</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$50,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Aeryon Labs</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Waterloo</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$50,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">CS Automotive Tubing</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,988</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bluewater Wood Alliance</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Walkerton</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,960</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Coorstek Advanced Materials</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Paris</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,958</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">LBMX</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,950</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bluewater Wood Alliance</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Walkerton</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,890</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">IMAP Audits</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sarnia</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,848</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Akira Systems</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,741</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Picard Foods</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Waterford</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,680</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Coorstek Advanced Materials</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Paris</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,500</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Red Piston</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Windsor</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,120</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Renix</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,100</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Windsor Mold</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Windsor</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$49,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Powernoodle</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Stratford</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$47,887</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Orion Foundry Canada</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Waterloo</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$47,760</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pakfab Engineered Solutions</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ayr</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$45,768</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Molesworth Farm Supply</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Listowel</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$45,648</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Conceptual Pathways</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Stratford</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$45,200</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Great Lakes Greenhouses</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Leamington</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$45,012</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Veriform</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cambridge</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$45,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bogdon &amp; Gross Furniture Co.</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Walkerton</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$44,266</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Parallax Innovation</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ilderton</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$44,160</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sylvan Point Technologies</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wiarton</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$44,032</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rescraft Plastic Products</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Paris</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$44,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Neoventures Biotechnology</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$42,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kilbank Metal Forming &amp; Turning &nbsp;</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">St. Thomas</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$41,002</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Suntrition</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tecumseh</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$40,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gorge Cinema</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Elora</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$39,936</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rol-Land Farms Blenheim</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Blenheim</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$37,928</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Remontech</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">St. Thomas</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$35,133</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wrightplan</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Waterloo</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$34,859</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Change Air Products &amp; Services</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Aylmer</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$30,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dynajoin Corporation</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cambridge</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$30,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">LifeLike Biotissue</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$30,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ramsden Industries</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$30,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Buildscale</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Waterloo</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$30,000</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sciencetech</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">London</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$29,424</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">2092912 Ontario</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">St. Williams</span></td><td><span style="font-size: x-small;">$28,968</span></td></tr></tbody></table>http://blog.garywill.com/2012/11/a-labs-london-and-communitech-top-swo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-7248457279030089089Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:42:00 +00002012-11-21T21:55:08.711-05:00Middlesex County tops SWO for residential assessment increases ... farmland values jumpThe 2012 <a href="http://www.mpac.ca/" target="_blank">MPAC</a> property assessment results are all in, and all regions of Southwestern Ontario fell below the provincial average of an 18.0% increase in residential property value between 2008 and 2012.<br /><br />Across the region, the highest average increase was in Middlesex County—my new(ish) home—at 17.0%, followed by Grey (16.3%) and Bruce (15.8%) Counties and Guelph (15.5%), with Waterloo Region (15.3%) and Huron County (14.8%) close behind.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c6tcxmjQNrE/UKvpLXa8U3I/AAAAAAAAD_M/JJ_AjSpSgz0/s1600/residentialassessment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c6tcxmjQNrE/UKvpLXa8U3I/AAAAAAAAD_M/JJ_AjSpSgz0/s1600/residentialassessment.jpg" /></a></div><br />(In the MPAC announcement, Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk were lumped together with a range of 8.3% to 10.3% for the three. I used the mid-point for the graph.)<br /><br />Windsor was at the other end of the scale with a 0.3% increase, followed by Sarnia at 1.8%.<br /><br />In Ontario, the highest reported increase was in Timiskaming, where assessments were up an average 36.8%. But that doesn't come close to the increases for farmland:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1Ibfwh2E8jQ/UKvpMJ9ZzwI/AAAAAAAAD_U/NqdBChNgRcM/s1600/farmassessment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1Ibfwh2E8jQ/UKvpMJ9ZzwI/AAAAAAAAD_U/NqdBChNgRcM/s1600/farmassessment.jpg" /></a></div><br />The value of farmland has skyrocketed in Southwestern Ontario over the last four years, with the biggest increases coming in Chatham-Kent (65.6%) and Huron County (65.3%). The Brantford area (64.0%) and Lambton County (62.2%) were also right up there.<br /><br />http://blog.garywill.com/2012/11/middlesex-county-tops-swo-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19959713.post-259625877703168923Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:16:00 +00002012-10-17T17:21:25.602-04:00Cyborg Trading Systems shows that exciting tech startups can come out of London<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i7l6WBOxfDE/UHgkeTkgKJI/AAAAAAAADdQ/gwnsYdEPprk/s1600/cyborg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i7l6WBOxfDE/UHgkeTkgKJI/AAAAAAAADdQ/gwnsYdEPprk/s1600/cyborg.jpg" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i7l6WBOxfDE/UHgkeTkgKJI/AAAAAAAADdQ/gwnsYdEPprk/s1600/cyborg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>So far, most of the FedDev funding for businesses in the London area—other than the huge $10 million contribution to help Mississauga-based Dr. Oetker Canada build a London facility—has come indirectly, though programs such as the Graduate Enterprise Internship ($1.8 million provided to the Research Park/Stiller Centre, most of which gets passed through to companies to help them hire STEM graduates) and the Applied Research and Commercialization initiative ($1.25 million to Western to enable the university to work on projects on behalf of companies).<br /><br />So the announcement that will be made later today by MP Susan Truppe of FedDev funding for London-based <a href="http://cyborgtrading.com/" target="_blank">Cyborg Trading Systems</a> is something different and exciting for the city—and FedDev couldn't have selected a better company.<br /><br />When I started working in London in the fall of 2010, Cyborg had just become a client of the Waterloo <a href="http://www.acceleratorcentre.com/" target="_blank">Accelerator Centre</a>'s Accelerator Program and had opened an office at the <a href="https://www.communitech.ca/communitech-hub/" target="_blank">Communitech Hub</a> in Kitchener. By then, they had already been working with the London IRAP office for some time and had recently received a $300,000 contribution from them. That's not a level of support that IRAP hands out easily and that told me the company was on to something interesting. They were even on the cover of <a href="http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/Business-London-Magazine/bl_oct2010/2010100801/1.html#0" target="_blank">Business London</a> magazine that month.<br /><br />I was eager to meet them and, even though they weren't involved with TechAlliance, invited them to the Founders and Funders Dinner where I got to sit with the three founders (CEO James McInnes, CFO Ben Bittrolff and CTO Peter Metford). They had a strong mix of industry expertise and technical skills and were as impressive a company as I had met in London. They were also very encouraging about the quality of tech graduates in London, speaking highly of Western and Fanshawe and the people they had hired from each. The conversation would have made a great recuitment video for either school.<br /><br />As someone who had been immersed in the Waterloo tech scene for nearly 15 years, my assumption was that Cyborg opened an office in Kitchener for software development while keeping business operations in London, so it was a surprise—a pleasant one—to hear that it was really just the opposite. Among the founders, it was the CFO who was in Kitchener. <br /><br />The company has been working with FedDev for some time now and it's good to see that work pay off. In a letter of support I wrote to FedDev last year, I said Cyborg had "quickly become one of the most promising innovation-based companies in the city" and I know the entrepreneurs-in-residence at Communitech and the in-house mentors at the Accelerator Centre have been very impressed as well.<br /><br />So, congratulations to Cyborg Trading Systems. The FedDev funding is only the tip of the iceberg of the great things that have been happening with the company. Its success shows that strong tech companies can start in London and underscores what I've said before about the value of the work that IRAP has done in London in finding and supporting early-stage companies (I believe IRAP has been working with Cyborg for nearly four years now). London may not yet have anything comparable to the Accelerator Centre or the Communitech Hub, but those resources aren't far away and Cyborg has shown the value those organizations can add to a high-potential company—even one based in London.<br /><br /><b>AFTERNOON UPDATE: </b>The <a href="http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/government-of-canada-supports-the-expansion-of-a-london-area-technology-company-1712878.htm" target="_blank">announcement</a> has now been made—FedDev will provide Cyborg Trading Systems with up to $381,500 under its Prosperity Initiative (which is different from the Investing in Business Innovation program I <a href="http://blog.garywill.com/2012/09/the-real-gap-between-london-and.html" target="_blank">discussed in an earlier post</a>). According to the news release, the money will be used "to help it expand its operations, take advantage of existing market gaps, and further establish its global market presence. This is expected to create 16 new, high-tech jobs at its London and Kitchener offices."http://blog.garywill.com/2012/10/cyborg-trading-systems-shows-that.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gary Will)0